The 25 Most Influential People at Microsoft - 3. Lisa Brummell

It's not surprising that the head of human resources would be an influencer--except perhaps in the case of Brummell. Brummel's roots aren't HR. Prior to her current position, she worked for 10 years in Microsoft's Home & Retail division. But she's known within Microsoft as being a people person and astute networker. Her presence and personality carry huge influence.

Among Microsoft's 70,000-plus employees, there are many influential people. Twenty-five is too small a number to capture the best of the best among a large group of creative people. But Microsoft corporate culture also is very staid and insular, with a top-heavy power structure. Therefore, for this list, I focused more on operational influencers, although there are some thought leaders included.
By Joe Wilcox, Microsoft Watch